Utopia Cape Town launched its latest Tasting Menu in November. Five courses cost R345, and are available on Mondays to Saturdays. A Vegetarian Tasting Menu is also available, at R345.
A 5 course Tasting Menu paired with five wines costs R555.
Utopia Cape Town has brought affordable fine dining to Cape Town. It has recently been named Best Rooftop Restaurant in Africa, for the second year running.
Tomorrow Anatoli Mediterranean Restaurant launches its brand new Vegan Tasting Menu, three courses costing R195. Each course offers a choice of dishes. One would not necessarily associate Mediterranean foods with Veganism, but creative Anatoli Chef Jacques du Toit has designed a tasty and aromatic Tasting Menu suiting Vegans and Vegetarians, containing no animal-derived products, and being purely plant-based.
The decision to introduce a Vegan Tasting Menu comes from Anatoli GM and co-owner Russell Zieff, after observing the trend to Veganism, and receiving a number of requests for Vegan-friendly food. Continue reading →
I had the luck to get a last minute booking at Alma, the two star Michelin restaurant of Chef Henrique Sa Pessoa in Lisbon last week, one of only two restaurants in Portugal with two stars. It opened four years ago. While one dish was superb, another was served incompletely, and my waitron let the restaurant down. Continue reading →
I love seeing how restaurants can reinvent themselves, and often a new chef can be the catalyst. Chef Archie Maclean has been at Catharina’s for about four months, and has gone back to the history and origin of Steenberg wine estate and its first owner Catharina Ras for inspiration for his creative new menu. Continue reading →
Yesterday was only the second day of Open Door being open on Constantia Uitsig, but it felt as if it had always been there, with everything running smoothly. Open Door is the third restaurant of co-owners Neil Grant and Barry Engelbrecht, alongside Burrata and Bocca, and serves country fare.
Previously the home to The River Café on the wine estate, with a tasting room on the side which has moved across the driveway, the space of Open Door is large, being able to seat 250 patrons at full capacity, in different sections. One enters around the corner, and no longer at the former tasting room entrance. The main restaurant room is spacious, with a gas fireplace to come at the one end, and an open kitchen on the other end, with the bar close to the kitchen section, opposite of which is Neil’s precious wine collection, looking smaller than that of Burrata, but is not, Continue reading →
American restaurant consultants Baum + Whiteman have predicted twelve food and beverage trends for this year, reports Fine Dining Lovers:
1: Restaurants in Retail Stores: restaurants will be used as a means of attracting more shoppers into malls, department stores, hotels, airports, and museums.
2: Tasting-Only Menus: Tasting menus are increasingly replacing à la carte menus in fine dining restaurants, the diners having a more exact idea of what they are in for in terms of cost.
3: The Rise of Fine Dining Chicken (Posh Chicken): Chicken is predicted to become as desired as a good steak when eating out, ‘cooked Sous Vide and served alongside foie gras, black mission figs or quail eggs’.
4: Out with Food Courts, In with Food Halls: Food Halls serving fine fresh foods in malls, even if more expensive, will replace the fare of fast food chains dominating shopping malls currently.
5: The Rise of Fish: Oily fishes such as anchovies, sardines, and mackerel are increasing Continue reading →
Cape Town’s only Eat Out Top 10 restaurant, Aubergine, went about its business as if nothing had changed for the team of Harald Bresselschmidt the day after receiving its special honour, it seemed. The Eat Out plaque is on the shelf in the entrance hall, and if one had not read about the Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Award winners announced on Sunday evening, one would not have known that Aubergine has been crowned as Cape Town’s best restaurant, except that the restaurant was fully booked on a Monday evening.
I took relatives from Germany to try out Aubergine last night, and had not been there for many years. My overall reaction was one of uncertainty of how I felt about the evening there. I was not sure if I could agree with the Eat Out judges that this is the one and only top restaurant in our city, as judged by them.
The building is Victorian, located in Gardens, but the interior was very unmodern, functional, almost old-fashioned, with some interesting looking lampshades (looked like serviettes hanging over the light fittings), with wooden tables and woven chairs seating 60 – 70 guests, woven beige placemats, and some paintings of aubergines downstairs (including one by Father Claerhout), and more modern artwork upstairs. One enters past a bar counter, and a wine storage system separates the restaurant from the bar counter. I was fascinated by the changing lighting effect on this wine storage section, and wondered whether it enhanced the wines. We sat in the upstairs section, with just four tables, a reed ceiling, and a triangular window offering a peek of Table Mountain. It became very hot upstairs, and the small open window did not cool things down much. Lighting was very low upstairs, from interesting wall light fittings creating the shadow effect of branches on the walls. Serviettes are of good quality, as is the glassware, but the cutlery seemed too ornate compared to the unfussiness of the decor.
The lovely hostess Jacqueline heard us talk, and immediately switched to German, and served us in German for the rest of the evening, which impressed my relatives. Jacqueline has only been at the restaurant for three weeks, and is a most efficient and helpful hostess, answering our many questions. The menu is divided into an a la carte section, and a degustation menu, but one is allowed to “mix and match”, which caused confusion at the time of the presentation of the bill, as every item ordered was itemised and not charged as per the set degustation price. The menu is attached to a leather holder, with Aubergine branding. The menu has a welcome from the “Cuisinier”, as Bresselschmidt calls himself on the business card. The introduction to the menu states: “Ingredients come first”. As Chef Patron he emphasises the “honest use of prime South African products, often enhanced by Oriental spices and cooking styles, leads you to appreciate the subtleties of what I try to produce”. The degustation menu costs R344/R485 for three courses, R 420/R600 for four and R 525/R745 for five courses, the second price reflecting the cost with a wine paired to each dish.
Howard Booysen was a very knowledgeable sommelier, who studied at Elsenburg, and makes his own Weisser Riesling under the HB Wines label, which is on the Aubergine winelist. He shares the sommelier honours with Dominic Adelbert, who studied hospitality in Geneva and Adelaide, and learnt about wine at Gleaneagles in Scotland, he said. The winelist is impressive, neatly bound in a leather folder, with 30 pages each in a plastic sleeve. Vintages and regions are mentioned, and each vintage of a wine stocked is priced separately. The winelist contains about 490 wines, and a full page is dedicated to wines by the glass. A good spectrum of local and imported brands, and prices, is included in the extensive winelist. We ordered the Catherine Marshall 2004 Shiraz at R 225. The champagnes include Pol Rogers (ranging in price from R580 – R2200), Le Mesnil (R790 and up), Billecart Salmon Rosé (R1300), Drappier (R375 – R500), Tribault Rosé(R696), Laurent Perrier (R1000 – R1450) and Duval Leroy (R795 – R 3300). Local brands of bubbly are Steenberg (R220 – R425), Teddy Hall R(385), Villiera (R220 – R300), Simonsig (R430), Krone Borealis (R270 – R3000), Silverthorn (R280) and Jaques Bruére (R230). Shiraz choices start at R52/R215 for Migliarino, with 27 brands offered, Signal Hill and Eben Sadie ranging in price between R1000 – R1200, depending on the vintage. White wines by the glass cost between R35 and R50 a glass, and red wines R45 – R65 per glass. Bresselschmidt told us that he is a Riesling fan, and calls himself the ‘Riesling ambassador in South Africa’. He is importing 500 bottles from Germany. His cellar at Auslese, the events venue he opened close by in the past year, holds 25 000 bottles in total.
A number of bread options was offered, and the wholewheat bread I chose was crispy and crunchy, freshly baked. We tried to order a variety of dishes amongst the three of us, to be able to taste as widespread a range as possible. The amuse bouche was an unexciting kingklip terrine, topped with salmon caviar and vinaigrette, served with a mini cucumber salad. The triangular plate it was served on did not hold the knife, and it kept falling off, a frequent complaint one has of restaurant plates these days. The support staff, wearing burgundy shirts, did not match Jacqueline’s level in any way, even though the lady that served us had been at the restaurant for four years. I found her hard to understand, and she kept stretching in front of my cousin to pass on plates and cutlery to me, an absolute no-no for a top restaurant. We were surprised that more senior staff do not bring the food to the table and explain the dishes. The waitresses tried hard but lacked polish. 
I had the Delice of smoked salmon trout and caper butter, served with roccula dressing, and poached quail eggs in a potato nest (R85). No fish knife was served with this course. My cousin had the Carpaccio of cured beef, served with marinated Burrata mozzarella, and a tomato and herb salad (R89). She expressed surprise at how thick the beef slices were. Her husband had the fish soup (R65), and felt the fish taste too pronounced, not something he is used to in German restaurants, being prepared in the French style.
The highlight of all the dishes was an ‘in-between’ dish, being steamed crayfish served with black noodles and a saffron sauce. Then came a sweet melon and mint sorbet palate cleanser, too sweet to our liking.
Something odd happened with the serving of the “Cape Sea Harvest” main course (on the degustation menu), which my cousin and her husband had ordered, described as a duo of kingklip and kabeljou when the menu was explained and our order taken. When it was served, it only had one piece of fish. We were not told proactively that the kingklip had run out, and whilst Jacqueline expressed her sincerest regret about a communication error between herself and the kitchen, it seemed unacceptable that an order taken was served incorrectly and was only reacted to when questioned. I had a most unusual tender tongue dish, with very finely sliced marinated tongue, served with asparagus and a delicious vanilla and green tea velouté (R160). Other main courses are duck (R182), lamb (R178), beef sirloin (R175) and ostrich fillet and tartare (R174).
For dessert my cousin had a very generous duo of Aubergine Créme Brûlée (R65). I chose a Beignet of Tomme Obiqua cheese from Tulbagh, served with Golden Delicious apple (which I could not taste), roccula and walnuts (R105). Other dessert options included a Charlotte of pear and ginger served with prickly pear sorbet (R75), assiette of chocolate (R84), Delice of lemon and strawberry meringue (R58), and a chef’s surprise (R94). I had ordered a cappuccino with the dessert, but it was only brought to the table after we had finished it, sweetened by a lovely plate of friandises served with the coffees.
Bresselschmidt came to our table and was very generous with his time in answering all our questions. He opened Aubergine 15 years ago, and chose the name because of his respect for a vegetable that is flexible and offers versatility. He had come to South Africa in 1992 to work at Grande Roche, and thereafter at Rhebokskloof. He has lost track of how many times he has been on the Top 10 Eat Out list, and thinks it is six or seven times. He told us how hard it is to run a restaurant, when you have to double and triple check everything, something that can affect one’s creativity, he said. He called for a score from the Eat Out judges, so that restaurants making the Top 10 list can get feedback about their performance relative to their colleagues, and not just on a ranked basis. We discussed the variability in the Eat Out Top 10 list, and Bresselschmidt felt it may be the magazine’s way of keeping interest in the Awards. Rust en Vrede is his favourite restaurant, and Bresselschmidt plans to take his team there next month to allow them to experience the country’s top restaurant. He is also loyal to Bosman’s, celebrating his wedding anniversary there, having met his wife at the Grande Roche. Nobu is another favourite.
I am yet to be convinced that Aubergine is the best restaurant that Cape Town has to offer. I did not experience it last night, mainly due to the inconsistency of the service and of the food served.
Aubergine Restaurant, 39 Barnett Street, Gardens, Cape Town. Tel (021) 465-4909. www.aubergine.co.za Mondays – Saturday evenings, Wednesday – Friday lunches.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com Twitter: @WhaleCottage
It is a strange feeling to enter the newly opened Asian Leaf Restaurant and Bar in what was the location of two favourite restaurants – The Showroom and Portofino – in that the restaurant interior is exactly as it was when Cormac Keane closed Portofino in April, with a few changes – grass green serviettes on the side plates, brand new staff wearing green Leaf-branded T-shirts, and a massive ghetto-blaster out on the deck, with too-loud music. The hardest thing about going to Leaf will be to choose what to eat, its choice of dishes being so vast. In general, the prices are very reasonable, and the portions generous, offering excellent value for money. Anyone looking for the two previous restaurants and their cuisine should stay away.
The opening of the restaurant was delayed due to a problem in getting the credit card machine installed. The restaurant had opened just more than a week before I visited it, and I went back on the following day, as I did not have much time on my first visit. I sat outside on the deck for my Saturday lunch, and almost choked on my calamari when I saw the massive ghetto-blaster, which had been set up on the deck, on a table with a table cloth. I asked if they were going to have a party, but it was meant to create atmosphere outside, to attract a younger crowd, said the Manager Ambrose. Fortunately the music was switched off when I sat outside, it being unbearably loud. The deck looks fuller in having more chairs and tables than in the past, and each outside chair has a red blanket, a clash with the green theme. A hand-written blackboard welcomes one on arrival, advertising a most amazing sushi special offer – 51 % (no, not a typing error) off all a la carte sushi from 11h00 – 19h00 daily, and all-day on Sundays.
Owner James Ye (Chinese for ‘leaf’) bought the restaurant from Keane, and took over all fixtures and fittings. Manager Ambrose, with ‘cheffing skills’, he said, when he prepared my calamari for the first lunch, worked at the Cape Town Fish Market for the past twelve years, leaving as Executive Head Chef responsible for menu development and costing. Ye came from China to be a sushi chef at the V&A Waterfront branch of the Cape Town Fish Market, and left to open The Empire on Main Road in Sea Point, and also opened Saki in the Sable Centre in Montague Gardens. He is also a frozen seafood supplier. A number of staff at Leaf have worked at the Waterfront branch of the Cape Town Fish Market, and this made me nervous about my first meal there. I was pleasantly surprised when my calamari was served – a massive plate with a very large portion of Patagonian calamari tubes, egg rice, tartar sauce made with Japanese mayonnaise, and the most wonderful steamed carrots and beans, an absolute steal at R79. I was the only guest in the restaurant on this first visit.
I returned for Sunday lunch, now sitting inside, and having two more tables for company. The ghetto-blaster had been moved under the outside table, but the table cloth which was meant to hide it was not long enough to do so. The table cloths and serviettes look badly ironed, if at all, and we questioned the side-plates being on the right – Ambrose said he wants Leaf to be different! Some knives had their serrated edges to the outside, rather than facing inside the setting, little signs of how new the staff are. Staff stretch in front of one when clearing items away, or in bringing additional cutlery, a pet hate. Any ex-regular would cringe if they saw the rose patterned cushions that are placed over the definitive ghost chairs of the restaurant. We were served a very tasty onion focaccia bread with a crispy cheese crust, with a milk jug each of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It is clear that things are less pretty and more functional at Leaf, and I missed a woman’s hand in the management.
We were offered a complimentary cocktail, and I chose the ‘virgin’ “Peach Tree Mosquito”, a refreshing mix of fresh mint, lime juice, cane sugar, peach juice, soda and crushed ice. Two champagnes are on the winelist, Veuve Cliquot and Pommery Brut Royale, at R999 and R1100, respectively. MCC sparkling wines offered are Simonsig (R29/R175), Beyerskloof Brut Rose (R24/R145) and Pierre Jourdan Belle Rose (R265). An innovative touch is the choice one has of ordering wine by the glass in 175 ml and 250 ml quantities, as well as by the bottle, allowing one to have different wines with each course or dish one eats. The Sauvignon Blancs, for example, start at R 19 (175ml), R27 (250ml) and R79 (bottle) for the Du Toits Kloof brand, Zevenwacht 360 being the most expensive (R40/R60/R170). For Shiraz lovers the entry level is Robertson (R20/R29/R87), and Diemersdal (R14/R62/R185) the most expensive. A good selection of wines is offered per varietal.
Leaf has three menus: Sushi, Hot Pot and Dim Sum, and a standard a la carte menu. None of the three menus are integrated design-wise, and some have photographs of some of the dishes, while others do not. The a la carte menu is the most professional looking, and is dominated by leaves on the pages. I started with a Hand roll of avo and prawn from the Sushi menu, which normally has salmon and caviar added, but which I declined – the normal price is R 39, but with the 51 %-off, it only costs R19. I cannot eat a hand roll by hand, so I was brought a steak knife to cut it. I love the prawn and avo hand roll at Fu.shi in Plettenberg Bay, and that is my benchmark. That of Leaf came close, but the end bits were dry, with the mayonnaise too concentrated in the middle. Sushi lovers will delight in the vast variety offered, including Sashimi platters (16 pieces for R138), Salmon platters and Tuna platters (21 pieces for R149), and eight combination choices of R99 Sushi platters. The Sushi menu also offers Crab, Prawn, Vegetable, Seared Tuna and Japenese (sic) Seafood salads, ranging from R30 – R58. Other options are smaller portions of Sashimi, Nigiri, Fashion Sandwich, Maki, Inside Out Roll and Edo Roll, as well as Tempura vegetables and prawns, and a selection of hand rolls.
The Dim Sum menu offers eighteen choices of steamed and pan-fried dumplings, deep fried wontons, and more, with prices ranging from R28 – R48, while the Hot Pot menu offers sixteen choices, ranging from R22 for Tofu to R150 for Crayfish. I did not have anything off this menu, being overwhelmed by the menu options offered across the three menus.
The a la carte menu tries hard to get away from the “Chinese” label the restaurant has already earned prior to its opening, and Manager Ambrose asked me specifically to not refer to it as a Chinese restaurant. The Starters include Oysters (R15 – R20), Harumaki (deep-fried spring rolls), Calamari, Mussels, Tuna Tartare, Tempura, and Dumplings, no item costing more than R59, and Crayfish Cocktail (R99). The Tempura prawn starter had five Indian Tiger Prawns, served as the most wonderful deepfried crispy thick “Japanese style battered morsels of food”, with sweet chilli sauce, at R40. The Chicken springrolls were delicious, with a different crispy batter, costing R25. Soups are Eastern in style, including Tom Yum, at R48. Salads range in price from R48 – R58. Fish and chips cost R40. Three calamari dishes range from R59 – R79. Crayfish is served grilled or steamed, at R249, or Thermidor, at R299 – no weight/size is specified. Seafood platters, served with a choice of two sides, range from R99 for line fish to R499 for the Executive (crayfish, scallops, line fish, prawns, baby squid, calamari and mussels). Steak options are Sirloin (200 g for R79, 300 g for R109), and fillet (250 g for R119), and one can also order lamb shank, lamb chops and oxtail. Three chicken dishes range from R59 – R79, while two Duck options are available, Peking Duck at R149, and Marinated Duck at R119. I chose the latter, and was disappointed with its taste and presentation – it was served on a bed of chopped lettuce, with a very rich dark sweet soy sauce, making the plate look very messy. The duck was nowhere near my duck benchmark, being that of Haiku. Sticky rice and steamed vegetables were well prepared. I was surprised to not see any desserts on the menu, but I am sure that no one could manage to eat any, after the great selection of starters and main courses. Coffee is by LavAzza.
One leaves Leaf confused about whether one likes the restaurant or not, and one tends to think back of wonderful meals and chats one had with Bruce and Cormac, given the familiarity of the furnishings. If one loves Eastern food, and seeks value for money, one can do no better than to eat at Leaf. The staff need time and practice to get their service up to speed, but in general they are friendly and eager to please. Food is served the whole day, and not in lunch and dinner time bands, as is so common, which means that one can pop in at any time if one is feeling peckish. Given time, Leaf can blossom, and bring new life to this restaurant space.
Leaf Restaurant and Bar, Harbour Edge Building, Chiappini Street, Green Point, Cape Town. Tel (021) 418-4500. www.leafrestaurant.co.za (The “webside” is still under construction).
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com
It’s been confirmed! Six-time Eat Out Top 10 Restaurant Chef Richard Carstens is to be the Executive Chef of a new improved Tokara restaurant in October, after a week in which the rumour circulated, was denied by the Tokara Ferreira family, and was finally confirmed by a media release on Friday. The move creates a culinary hub in the Helshoogte Pass, with the two Delaire restaurants across the road, and the Pass being a link between the competing gourmet towns of Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, and adds further weight to Stellenbosch now wearing the Gourmet Capital crown and for it to establish a Restaurant Route.
Tokara restaurant has been an institution for the past ten years, and was vacated by Chef Etienne Bonthuys last weekend, as he is opening a restaurant on Dorp Street in Stellenbosch. Bonthuys has not always been the easiest of chefs and restaurant owner, so new owner Wilhelm Kuehn, co-owner of Jardine’s in Cape Town, will have to rebuild the brand to attract new patrons, whilst retaining the Bonthuys regulars. Kuehn plans to build the Tokara restaurant to be on a par with the highly regarded Tokara wine and olive oil product brands, to create synergy between the three entities.
Carstens is not known for his long-term staying power at restaurants (the exception being his five year tenure at Lynton Hall), but Kuehn says he is hoping for a long-term relationship with his new chef. The media release states that Tokara Restaurant will be focused on contemporary cuisine. “Each plate of food will offer the diner a sense of the natural environment and the location of the restaurant as well as the current season through the ingredients used”, says Carstens. The menu contains “unfussy a la carte options as well as a more playful tasting menu, each course optionally paired with a glass of Tokara wine or a selection of other premium South African wines”. There will be no molecular gastronomy at Tokara, a distinctive Carstens’ trademark, but not appreciated by all. A bar will be built in the foyer, from which one can enjoy the wonderful views onto the Tokara vineyards and onto Stellenbosch.
Asked about the future of Jardine’s in Cape Town, Kuehn said that nothing will change. Eric Bulpitt is their Executive Chef, who is off to a 6-week stint at Noma, the world’s top of the 50 Top Restaurants list, until mid-September. Sous chef Julie will hold the kitchen fort at Jardine’s in Cape Town. A manager will be appointed for the Tokara restaurant. George Jardine has no involvement with Tokara at all, and still is a co-owner of Jardine’s in Cape Town, although his focus is Jordan Restaurant with George Jardine in Stellenbosch, said Kuehn.
Richard Carstens is contracted to Chez d’Or in Franschhoek until September, but the association is a disappointing one. Read our review.
Tokara Restaurant with Richard Carstens will open in October, serving lunch from Tuesdays – Sundays, and dinner from Tuesdays – Saturdays. Tel (21) 808-5959. On the Stellenbosch Restaurant Route.
POSTSCRIPT 1/8: Richard Carstens left Chez d’Or on Wednesday, the day of our review, two months ahead of his contract ending with the Franschhoek restaurant.
Chris von Ulmenstein, Whale Cottage Portfolio: www.whalecottage.com